The present invention relates to a method and device for retrieving information using a query expression generated based on a feedback from a user.
With the current trend toward intense competition between corporations and organizations, there has been a growing need to share and reuse knowledge and expertise possessed by various individuals in order to improve performance.
For this reason, there has been a growing need for a method to determine who in a corporation or organization has knowledge about particular subject matter (referred to as “Know Who searches”). For example, searches to determine “which person knows about business strategies against company A” may be needed. Two technologies for implementing Know Who searches are described below.
As presented in Japanese laid-open patent publication number 10-63685, the first technology saves query expressions used in past searches using a document retrieval system. Other users can search these saved query expressions to retrieve the names IDs of users who are knowledgeable about the desired information. (This technology is hereinafter referred to as “related art 1”).
The following is a description of the flow of operations performed in this technology using the PAD (Problem Analysis Diagram) in FIG. 2. Step 301 in this operation repeats the operations from step 302 through step 309 until the system is shut down. At step 302, input from a user is received. Next, at step 303, if a document retrieval request is entered at step 303, the operations at step 304 through step 306 are performed. First, at step 304, a query expression is received from the user. Next, at step 305, documents are retrieved using the query expression obtained at step 304. Then, at step 306, the query expression obtained at step 304 is saved.
If a query expression search is requested, step 307 executes the operations from step 308 through step 309. First, at step 308, a query expression is received from the user. Next, at step 309, the names of users who used query expressions similar to the query expression obtained at step 308 are taken from the store of query expressions saved at step 306 and displayed.
For example, if the entered query expression is “Retrieve documents containing ‘Company A’, ‘business’, and ‘strategy’”, the names of those who entered similar query expressions in the past can be provided as the retrieval results. This makes it possible to infer who might know about “business strategies against Company A”.
As presented in Japanese laid-open patent publication number 10-83386, the second technology (hereinafter referred to as “related art 2”), prior to a user's making a search query, has each user register data (hereinafter referred to as personal profiles) indicating the knowledge and expertise they have. Other users can search the personal profiles to determine who may be knowledgeable about a particular topic. The following is a description of the flow of operations performed in this technology using the PAD shown in FIG. 3.
Step 401 in this process repeats the operations from step 402 through step 408 until the system is shut down. At step 402, input from a user is received. At step 403, if the input is determined to be a know-how or knowledgeability registration request, the operations from step 404 through step 405 are performed. At step 404, input about the user's expertise is received from the user, and, at step 405, the knowlegeability data received at step 404 is saved.
At step 406, if the input is a request for a knowlegeability search, the operations from step 407 through step 408 are performed. At step 407, a query expression is received from the user. Next, at step 408, the knowledgeability data saved at step 405 is searched based on the query expression obtained at step 407, and the names of the users who registered the retrieved knowledgeability data are presented.
For example, users who know about “business strategies against Company A” enter strings such as “Company A” and “business” into their personal profiles before performing a search. Then, another user can search personal profiles using a query expression such as “Company A” and “business” to obtain the name of the user who entered these terms. As a result, it can be inferred that the person registering this personal profile knows about “business strategies against Company A”.
However, in related art 1, similar query expressions used in the past will be presented as retrieval results regardless of whether or not desired retrieval results could be obtained. Thus, it is possible for the results to include users who entered inappropriate query expressions that did not result in desired documents being retrieved.
For example, the query expression “retrieve documents containing ‘Company B’, ‘business’, and ‘strategy’” may be retrieved in response to the query expression “retrieve documents containing ‘Company A’, ‘business’, and ‘strategy’” due to two of the terms in the query expression matching. As a result, a user who knows “business strategies against Company B” may be retrieved rather than a user knowing “business strategies against Company A”.
In related art 2, users are burdened with having to prepare personal profiles beforehand, and only a topic of expertise that was registered can be used. Also, the users may not necessarily be able to prepare an adequate personal profile.
For example, each time a user obtains knowledgeability data such as “business strategies against Company A”, the user must register strings such as “Company A” and “business”. The strings “Company A” and “business,” alone, cannot express what the relation of business is to Company A in the registered knowlegeability data. Thus, it is not necessarily possible to register adequate personal profiles.